Verstappen overtakes Prost in the all-time win list, Alonso equals Prost in the all-time podium list and Magnussen sets a new record for most first lap retirements at Interlagos. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2023 SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen claimed his 52nd victory at the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, overtaking Alain Prost for fourth place in Formula 1’s all-time win list. Prost had sat in the top four of all-time Formula 1 wins since the 1986 Australian Grand Prix.
Verstappen became the 11th driver to record multiple wins at Interlagos during its time on the F1 calendar. It was Red Bull’s fifth victory at the track.
Red Bull recorded their 19th Grand Prix win of the 2023 season, equalling Mercedes’ record for most wins in a single season, set in 2016.
With Verstappen having led 68 laps of the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Red Bull set a new record for the most Grand Prix laps led by a team in a single Formula 1 season. Red Bull have now led 1,060 laps this year – five more than Mercedes led in 2016.
Verstappen was the only driver who finished the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in the same position as he started from.
With Verstappen remaining top of the Drivers’ Championship after the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Dutchman equalled Michael Schumacher for the record of most consecutive races spent leading the standings.
ON THE PODIUM
Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso joined Max Verstappen on the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix podium. Alonso secured his podium finish by just 0.053 seconds in a late race battle with Sergio Perez.
This was Norris’ fifth podium finish in the last six races.
With second place, Norris equalled Nick Heidfeld as the driver to have recorded the most podium finishes without ever winning a Grand Prix. This was Norris’ 13th podium finish. Only Jean Alesi, Mika Hakkinen and Eddie Irvine made more podium appearances than Norris before taking their first win.
Norris’ second place marked the first time he has finished in the top seven at Interlagos.
Norris was voted Driver Of The Day for the third consecutive race. He is only the fourth driver, after Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc to win the vote at three successive races.
Norris’ podium finish made this the fourth consecutive F1 race in which the driver starting sixth has finished in the top three. It’s the position’s longest streak of podium results since the 2009 European, Belgian, Italian and Singapore Grands Prix.
Norris recorded McLaren’s best result at Interlagos since Jenson Button won the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix with the team. It was McLaren’s first podium finish here since 2019, when Carlos Sainz finished in third place.
Norris’ podium saw Britain equal Germany as the nation with the most podium finishes at Interlagos.
Alonso recorded his 106th podium finish, equalling Alain Prost as the driver with the fourth most podiums in Formula 1 history. This was Alonso’s first podium finish since he was runner-up at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix and his first podium appearance at Interlagos since 2013.
This was Alonso’s ninth podium finish at Interlagos, setting a new record for the most podium finishes at a venue without ever recording a win there.
Over the course of the race, Alonso became the driver to have raced the most Grand Prix laps at Interlagos, equalled Michael Schumacher for the most points-scoring appearances in Brazil and became the first driver to finish 18 races at the Interlagos circuit.
Alonso recorded the Silverstone-based team’s first podium finish in Brazil since Giancarlo Fisichella won the Brazilian Grand Prix with Jordan in 2003.
IN THE POINTS
Missing out on the podium by just 0.053 seconds, Sergio Perez finished in fourth place at the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. With that, Mexico became the tenth nation to have scored in 200 Grands Prix.
Perez has never finished on the podium at Interlagos but this was his seventh consecutive points-scoring appearance at the track. Three of those seven appearances have resulted in fourth place finishes.
Lance Stroll came home in fifth place in the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, recording his first top five result since the Australian Grand Prix. This was the eighth top five finish of Stroll’s Formula 1 career.
With Alonso third and Stroll fifth, the duo recorded the Silverstone-based team’s first double top five finish at Interlagos since the 2000 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton finished eighth in the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Of races he’s finished, this was the first time Hamilton finished outside of the top six since the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, where he also finished eighth.
Eighth is Hamilton’s worst result at Interlagos since he finished ninth at the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.
With Hamilton eighth and George Russell retiring, this was only the second time since 2014 that neither Mercedes driver finished on the podium at Interlagos. It’s the first time since the team’s comeback to F1 in 2010 that neither driver has finished in the top seven at the track.
With both Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton scoring points in the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, British drivers scored for the 114th consecutive race. It’s a new personal best for the nation’s longest scoring streak and is the second-longest scoring streak for a nation in F1 history.
Both Alpine drivers finished in the points at the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, making this the team’s first double points-scoring Grand Prix since the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix. This was the third consecutive Interlagos race in which both of the team’s drivers scored points.
Esteban Ocon finished in tenth place for a second consecutive race. It was his third consecutive points finish in Brazil.
Yuki Tsunoda picked up points in a Grand Prix for the second time in the last three races and for the fifth time overall in 2023. This was the first time Tsunoda has scored points at Interlagos.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Logan Sargeant finished 11th in the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, equalling his second-best result in Formula 1 to date.
Sargeant’s 11th place marked Williams’ best result at Interlagos since Felipe Massa finished seventh in 2017.
Finishing 12th, Nico Hulkenberg made this the 11th consecutive race which he has finished in a position outside of the points.
This was Haas’ fourth consecutive point-less visit to Interlagos. 2018 remains the only season in which the team has scored in a Grand Prix at the track.
With 13th place, Daniel Ricciardo made this his third consecutive point-less visit to Interlagos. Unlike the last two years, the Australian did at least make the chequered flag.
THE RETIREES
Only 14 drivers reached the finish line at the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. It was the fewest finishers since 14 drivers also took the chequered flag at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix.
Of the six drivers who failed to finish the race, one even failed to start. Charles Leclerc crashed out on the formation lap due to a hydraulic failure. This was the second DNS of Leclerc’ s career, both of which have come when he was due to line-up on the front row of the grid. Leclerc also failed to start the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, for which he took pole.
Leclerc became the fifth driver to record a DNS at Interlagos. He was the first driver to do so since Romain Grosjean, who crashed on his way to the grid in wet conditions in 2016.
Kevin Magnussen was out on the first lap at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for the second year in succession. In addition to 2017, this was his third first lap DNF at Interlagos. That saw him overtake David Coulthard as the driver with the most Lap 1 retirements at the venue.
Having also retired from the last race, Magnussen recorded his first consecutive DNFs since the 2022 Monaco and Azerbaijan Grands Prix.
Alex Albon was also eliminated on the opening lap, ending a two-race run of points-scoring finishes with his fourth retirement of the season.
Albon recorded Williams’ first DNF at Interlagos since Felipe Massa’s retirement from the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The opening lap crash made this the fifth Formula 1 race at Interlagos to be red-flagged. It was the first race at the track to be red-flagged since the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix. Having also had a red flag period at the Mexico City Grand Prix, this was the first time that consecutive F1 races were red-flagged since the 2021 Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix.
Neither Alfa Romeo driver reached the chequered flag, recording the team’s first double retirement since the 2022 British Grand Prix. Zhou Guanyu recorded his third DNF of the year and his first since the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix, while Valtteri Bottas recorded his third retirement in the last six races.
This was the former Sauber team’s first double DNF at Interlagos since 2002.
George Russell, the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix winner, failed to finish at Interlagos in 2023. Russell recorded his fourth DNF of the 2023 season.
Russell became only the second Mercedes driver, after Valtteri Bottas in 2019, to fail to finish at Interlagos.